Please be kind, I really no nothing about Blackberry and BES. I had to install the BES Express 5.0 recently for a client, and everything went just fine. They echoed to me that they would like their Global Address List to be wirelessly synced to their phone. Is this possible? I cannot find a good answer on this. We literally only have 2 users in BES, and the GAL only has around 20 emails, it is all very small, but I need to find a solution to be able to do this without involving the client at all.

I do have access to the administrator account, and can create Public Folders. I have heard some rumblings about creating a public folder that syncs to the GAL, but I don't know much....

Any help would be amazing! Let me know if you need any further information. Thanks!

Are you aware of the 'look up' feature. The BB user can open the address book and search for a contact in the GAL by typing some or all of the name (I believe the min. is 2 characters). Once you find the contact they can save the contact to the BB address book.

I have heard of the 'look up' feature, but not really certain of what that is either. Is that part of Outlook, or BB?

I had a feeling that the GAL cannot be wirelessly synced.... but I am hoping for some sort of work-around. I was thinking of looking into creating a public folder, and then syncing that to the GAL, and then I can sync the public folder to the BBs. I need to create a work-around somehow.

-> Open the address book on the BlackBerry ('look up' should be at the top of the Address Book list)
-> highlight 'lookup'
-> type the name of any user in the GAL then click the track ball/pad (The BlackBerry, via the BES, performs a GAL request the same way Outlook would do a "Search address Book" on a PC)
-> A results list should appear
-> You can click on the name to look at the info or if you want or you can highlight the user, click the Menu key, add the contact to your BlackBerry.

Keep in mind the GAL, Outlook Contacts, and the address book are stored in separate locations.

The GAL on the Exchange server (well active directory)
Outlook Contacts in the user's mailbox (or PST if stored locally on the PC)
The Address Book on the BlackBerry

Outlook and BlackBerry can search the GAL but unless you save a contact in either location they will not appear in the other.

Example....to perform a look up for Ichabod Crane you only have to search for 2 of the letters such as ic or cr to find the user. Of course, the more characters you specify the smaller the list of results. In a large company you should type as many as possible.

Thanks for the info. I thought that was what it was... my user in question does do that, but he doesn't see certain people in his GAL when he types a few letters...

What intrigued me was what you said about Outlook and BlackBerry can search the GAL, but unless you save a contact in either location, they will not appear in the other. I think that is what is happening. He must not have looked into the lookup feature. Is there a feature at the top of the address box in BBs that is different from the lookup feature? We might be looking in the wrong area, and as such, since he doesn't see it, he isn't inclined to add it to his address book.

I hope I didn't confuse you, but that is what I am thinking he did... just a guess...

... 'lookup' can be accessed in the BlackBerry Address Book by 1) click menu key then select Lookup or 2) scroll to the top of the contacts in the address book and click 'Lookup'

If your user performs a lookup for Ichabod Crane by typing IC and receives no results. Try the same seach in Outlook. In Outlook 2003, Tools -> Address Book -> Set the Address Book field to Global Address Book.

Perhaps the contacts name is spelled differently or listed by a middle name in in the GAL, the user could be hidden.

Try the search on your PC if you cannot see what he's actually typing to make sure Outlook can find the contact because if Outlook can't the BES/BlackBerry most likely will not either.